London is no stranger to food trends that make us raise an eyebrow before we reach for our phones to snap them. But this National Burger Day (21st August), KatKin the UK’s leading fresh cat food brand has gone one step further and teamed up with Michelin-starred chef Alice Ostan to create what might just be the most provocative burger in history: a gourmet cat food burger.
The burger, cheekily dubbed the CLUCK Burger, is made entirely from KatKin’s fresh chicken recipe a product usually destined for pampered felines. But before you recoil in horror, here’s the twist: KatKin’s food is made from 100% human-grade meat. It’s cooked fresh daily in Suffolk, never processed, and never bulked up with fillers. In other words, it’s food that you or I could eat even if it usually arrives in a pouch labelled for Tiddles.
Chef Alice Ostan, who has trained under Gordon Ramsay and other culinary titans, gave the CLUCK recipe a full haute-cuisine glow-up. Think golden panko breadcrumbs, a ricotta-parmesan-lemon spread, KatKin’s freeze-dried chicken “sprinkles,” smoky bacon jam (crafted from KatKin’s pork recipe), crisp lettuce, ripe tomatoes, cucumber ribbons, and a drizzle of hot honey – all sandwiched in a ciabatta bun.
The result? A burger that’s playful, provocative, and surprisingly delicious.
But beyond the viral shock factor, there’s a serious message here. KatKin wants to highlight the huge gulf between what we feed ourselves and what we feed our pets. Supermarket shelves are crammed with ultra-processed, filler-packed cat food, often with meat content so low it barely deserves the name. KatKin’s co-founders Brett and Nikki O’Farrell are clear: “Our cats deserve the same quality meat we’d happily eat ourselves. Fresh, real meat is the way forward for cat health”.
And the proof is in the purring. According to KatKin, 95% of cat parents report improvements in their pets after switching to fresh food – from shinier coats to more energy and better digestion.
This National Burger Day, I’ll be toasting to Alice Ostan and KatKin for giving us food for thought and for turning the humble burger into a cultural talking point. After all, London has always loved a culinary dare. And when it comes wrapped in brioche or ciabatta, we’re usually willing to take a bite.
Would I eat it? Let’s just say… I’d at least try a nibble.
